Endless Shores
Cultural background: 'Tarizoku and Ganizoku (principal), limited Yunjin influences in the north, altered a lot by the Imperial Order. '''Language: '''Houshigo, limited presence of the traditional tarizoku and ganizoku language in some places '''Religious influences: 'Path of the Spirits (primarily), Way of the Stars (usually mixed Way of Mysteries), limited Ancestor Worship in the North (in Yunjin/Tari communities) 'Population: '''Extremely high, not really concentrated in any ways, even the farmlands are highly populated '''Original settlement: '''Northern tarizoku tribes appear to be the original settlers in the area, the ganizoku having been chased out of various regions to regroup. After the imperial conquest, the whole region was combined into a single nation. '''Major exports: '''Rice, silk and textile, seafood, paper, lumber '''Major imports: '''Metals, precious metals, horses, linen, wool Geography and Climate One of the founding regions of the Empire, the Tarigani is not the largest region (this honor goes to Yunjin) or the nation with the longest history (the Nittan can easily claim that), but it is, more than likely, the most populous and the richest of all the parts of the Empire. Tarigani is often called “the Endless Shores”, as this is where the majority of the original population used to live and the shore does feel endless, with no major changes in the landscape until one would reach the very northern part of the region. The whole region is encompassed by the Iron Shields Mountains in the south, more or less to the edge of the Midlands forest and the Emerald Stream River in the north, and it is a fairly pleasant, not too humid, not too dry, not too cold, not too hot region. In the north you get occasional snow in winter, but it is fairly rare in the south, but the winter season is usually a bit more humid, with a lot of rainfall. While there are some hills and valleys, generally the region is level and flat, with the occasional forested patch and tree grove. In the south, the forests are usually composed of birch, maple and oaks, with the rare pine tree, but as you move towards the north, coniferous trees are more and more common. The coast is usually split between sandy beaches and higher cliffs, with the occasional river coming from the Midland or the Iron Shields reaching the sea. Early Imperial History and expansion Tarigani was originally split between two people, the Tarizoku in the north and the Ganizoku in the south. The two people were never really OFFICIALLY at war, but they were fighting over resources and land in the region, and even though they were two distinct cultures, they were from one central ethnic group and shared some common traits, like a complex caste system, horse-taming and a passion of archery and swordplay. In general, the tarizoku were more sedentary, living in yunjin-inspired cities with wooden palisades instead of stone walls, while the ganizoku were a bit more nomadic, with permanent settlements existing for the farmers to plant their crops while the warriors travelled from city to city to collect their dues. Things were not simple on the Endless Shore in those days, but people knew what they were doing and what was expected of them. But then, the First Mikado came, bringing with him the majority of the Nittan warrior caste along with his own army of elite soldiers. The Ganizoku, first in the path of the Mikado, opposed as much resistance as they could, but their primitive bronze weapons and poor military tactics, built around challenging people to duels to gain the most honors in battle, resulted in a catastrophic collapse of their nation. The Mikado did see that the ganizoku were already more numerous then the Nittan however, and when he learned of the existence of the tanizoku as well, he was surprised as to how many people actually resided on the Shores. Surviving members of the warrior caste were quickly integrated and rearmed with more “modern” Nittan weapons, made of iron, while a portion of the higher ups in the peasant caste were elevated to warrior status as well, to beef up the Mikado’s army. Fearing the tanizoku would be much, much harder to defeat due to advance notice and their fortification, the Mikado dispatched some of his best generals to scout and harass his new enemy, in hope of distracting them and preventing a combined effort against his new, untested forces. Things were easier than he ever expected. While they had fortifications, the tanizoku cities were hardly strongly defended, and they were not trained at all for extended sieges or against siege warfare in general. The Mikado’s magic, along with simple fire arrows, did wonders against the lords that had hidden in their wooden fortresses, while those who decided to fight on an open field of battle met similar fate to the ganizoku, a few years before. Consolidating such a large population, along with combining it with the Nittan which had already pledged allegiance to him, was quite a challenge for the Mikado and his Sons of Heaven. A few of his head generals were assigned specific tasks within the region and back in Nitta No Kuni, where they became overlords to the regional warrior caste, laying the foundation for the future Celestial Order. To manage taxation and development in various areas, a few men were selected from various regions and various castes, after having them take a few tests to verify their aptitude and their honesty. This became the basis for the imperial bureaucracy which remains to this day. Integration between the tarizoku and the ganizoku was fairly simple, with minimal forced migration except for the granting of new lands for farmers to work on. Early Imperial era didn’t promote the tarigani culture on its own, but as the local population was far higher than any other regions along with the construction of the capital at the northern border of the Shores, tarigani culture became the norm for most interaction. The ancient language of the tarizoku and ganizoku fell disappeared quickly as the people adopted their conqueror’s tongue and alphabet, which became the actual standard in the empire. Economy Tarigani is rich, insanely rich. In an economy based on rice, the Endless Shore grows between 50% and 60% of the rice in the Empire, and grows the highest quality rice as well. Rice paddies are common all over the farmlands, hidden in forests or in valleys, and farm villages are everywhere, almost all of them growing rice rather than any other grain or raising animals. Fruit orchard, mostly peaches, cherries and pears, is the second most common agricultural activity in Tarigani, and while it is not regarded as well as rice farming, many members of the bureaucracy and samurai own them, hiring retainers to maintain them. Raising animals is rare within Tarigani lands, with horse ranches being about the only kind of animal farms being well-viewed. Many peasants own a small chicken coop but no large scale chicken farms really exist in the region. Another important economic activity in the region is the raising of silkworm and the spinning of silk. Some people from outside Tarigani really believe that even peasants wear silk in the area, and while this is false, textile industry has become more and more powerful over the years. Linen and cotton fields have begun springing up throughout the north as well, in regions that would usually be unsuitable for rice farming, and a few small cities have grown bigger as actual textile factories have sprung up, importing wool from the Mountains and Yunjin in large quantities. Papermills have actually began appearing in many cities in the region as well, expanding on the production of regular scroll paper for which the bureaucracy and the military used to be the most common buyers. This drastic increase in the quantity of paper also led to the creation of printing companies, which quickly copies manuscripts for wider distribution. The new textile and papermill industry is rapidly replacing the fishing industry which used to be the second economic driver in Tarigani. It remains very popular along the coast and near some of the larger rivers, and provides the proteins for most of the people in the region, with fish, shrimps and squids being the most popular. Threats and miliary presence Except for rogue ronin bands and some odd bandits, Tarigani has almost no real threats to travelers or the local population. Military presence in the region remains strong even if it is peaceful and most uprisings or bandit activities are rapidly eliminated. Wild animals are usually driven out of populated zones, and while there are the odd tiger or mountain lion in the south close to the Iron Shields, there are very few really dangerous animals to be seen. Forested areas have bears, foxes and the odd wolf pack, and the most dangerous ones are often marked as such by the locals. In the plains, badgers and wolverines can sometimes be seen as a threat, but they often prefer hiding rather than challenge the local authorities. The sea near the coast is home to a few species of rather aggressive sea scorpions and some smaller sea lizards, but a lot of fishermen have learned out to avoid them, while some of the more courageous ones even actively hunt them, even though they don’t sell for much. Some of the rivers in the south have alligators in them, especially in the marshier areas, and some even venture as far as the rice paddies to hunt. Tarigani military has changed a lot over the year, but some things remain standard. Ashigaru troops are raised in time of war, given long spears, short bows and mass-produced armors to bulk up the ranks of samurai armies. Foot samurai, on the other hand, are all expected to carry the katana and wakizashi (or their modern counterpart s), and then they are split between wielding bishamon yari or naginata in actual engagement or carry a longbow along with an ample supply of arrows. Most foot samurai are garbed in their lord colors and one in 5 carries his banner on his back, lamellar armor being the favorite of most soldiers, while the more expensive chain and lamellar armors are usually reserved for the elite soldiers. Cavalry units are usually split in three groups, with the heavy chargers wielding bishamon yaris and wearing the heaviest armor possible, the mobile mounted archer units which position themselves before raining down arrows on their foes and the rapid skirmish riders, carrying naginatas and wearing lighter armors. Coastal and river troops are usually lightly armored to be able to mount assault from ships and are mostly armed with bows and sabers. This pattern is repeated almost throughout the region, except for some odd, more Yunjin-affiliated cities in the north where ashigaru troops might be assigned crossbows instead of short bows and where some samurai appear to prefer glaives over naginatas. Local Culture as the Global Culture Tarigani culture is simply THE imperial culture. They are the standard on which all other cultural artifacts in the Empire are defined and the local idiosyncrasies of the other regions are what define them as opposed to this baseline. High culture throughout the empire, the one found in the halls of the Sons of Heaven and high samurai lords, is copied from what is seen in the courts of the Endless Shores. Poetry is based on many different styles, from kanshin (inspired by old Yunjin poetry) to the ever popular haiku, and each has its own place in the cultural landscape. Most forms of poetry of Tarigani origin is built around a number of syllables being placed on a set number of lines to follow a stylistic standard, and imagery is far more important than the message itself, with composition (spontaneous or semi-spontaneous) being preferred to reciting pre-existing poems. Free-flowing poetry, sometimes called songs even though they are not always sung, is not as popular as the rigid forms due to how hard they are to compose, but recitals of ancient songs by master poets and courtesans is fairly popular. Tarigani humor is built around a variety of form of straight man / idiot duos, puns and surrealist / absurd monologues and is very popular with the lower classes, with a few merchants sponsoring comedy groups to go on tour. Sculpture is focused mainly on wood sculpture, with representation of Sons of Heaven and ancient spirits being the favorite subjects, along with decorative art representing animals for residences and buildings. On palaces and richer mansions, those sculptures placed on the rooftop are sometimes made of silver or gold rather than wood. Painting is also very popular in Tarigani, with the majority being done in what is now known as “the old style”, with pastel color depicting nature, with highly stylized animals and human figures being added to the mix, usually with dissonant colors. This style is still the most popular for decoration and “just art”, but in the last three hundred years, various schools have grown throughout the region, putting emphasis on perspective, realism and working on historical and mythological themes, leading to many other styles being used and promoted, using different material, colors and basic composition technique. Some stylistic forms have not grown popular still but are used by small groups of artist, and as some move out of Tarigani, they gain a following outside of the region instead. 'The Specificities of local culture The Yunjin passion for polo was exported to Tarigani early in imperial history, with teams from the various cities playing in local tournaments or at the national level in the case of some of the best teams. Another sport, this one imported from the Holy Kingdom a few decades ago, called Bat-and-Ball, is growing in popularity across the region, especially with the merchant and lower classes, as opposed to polo being the sport of the nobility. Kemari is always a popular past time as well amongst the elite, while a variant was developed by the lower classes, which involves a lot more physical contact. For those wanting more “mental” forms of entertainment, Go and Shogi is played at almost all levels of society, with the best players living off pensions paid by the national organizations rather than regular stipends. Chivalrous Organizations in the region have grown rich with illegal gambling in the region, with sports bets and bets on Go and Shogi matches being a good source of revenue, but they also created new games for people to play and gamble on, like Mahjong and 7 Cards Held. An outsider could think fashion in Tarigani is very simple, with kimonos being all the rage since just about forever, but designs, patterns and forms have been constantly revised and reworked, and while the high society clothes are pretty rigidly standard, the lower samurai and bureaucrats have a lot more styles available to them, especially with the introduction of linen, wool and mixed fabric clothing. Leather, and animal skins in general, is taboo amongst the Tarigani people, which regards wearing the skin of someone else as disgusting at best. Tarigani food is based almost entirely on sea food, especially salt water fish and shellfish, accompanied by rice, while for the people who are a bit poorer or for a change of pace, various form of noodles are available, usually served in a broth made from fish or chicken stock. Eggs supplement the meal of many peasants and lower ranked samurai, but poultry is uncommon due to how expensive it would be to replace a live chicken. Animal meat in general is frowned upon by the higher classes, except for game meat captured in a hunt, of which various fowl is preferred to any other meat. Olive oil import from Nittan is essential to Tarigani cuisine, along with the import of sugar cane from the Archipelago, and while sushi and sashimi is relatively common on many tables, fried and marinated fish with a touch of sugar has become a delicacy loved by many. Pastries, along with specialty breads made from Plain and Yunjin wheat, have grown more and more popular in the past century or so, with bakeries springing up at a record speed in many cities across the region. About the only thing that remains very traditional in Tarigani in regards to food is their love of sake, or rice wine, perfumed with petals of flowers or light fruit juice at time, just to give it a slightly different taste. Other forms of alcohol are uncommon at best, especially at the table of noblemen and women, except in the south where Nittan wine is sometimes seen as a sign of refinement and in the Chivalrous Organization underground bars, where grain alcohol from the Plains are available at a premium rate. Category:Imperial Province Category:Tarigani